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E-commerce stats: The importance of returning customers

This month, there has been some interesting data concerning what online retailers think about the importance of returning customers and some juicy trends highlighting the real worth of shoppers who come back for more compared to first time buyers.

E-retailer confidence

How customer experience can improve e-retail performance is a focal point of Intershop’s recent The E-commerce Report which gives a comprehensive look at the sector in Europe.

Returning customers are at the forefront of many e-commerce specialists’ activities. 73% of European online retailers believe the experience on their website can influence whether consumers return.

Looking closely at seasoned e-retailers from the continent, 91% are confident that the experience customers have on their website can ensure they come back. In the UK specifically, 82% of all e-retailers are of the same opinion.

In Europe, the average revenue of a returning purchaser is €5.34, three times higher than first timers (€1.75). Repeat shoppers, those who come back again and again, spend €11.54 per person on average – seven times higher than the typical online shopper.

Adobe also highlights average spend trends among first-timers, returning shoppers and repeaters. While the average revenue from first time and returning shoppers have remained pretty much level since Q2 2011, repeat visitors were spending around €5 more by April 2012.

Of course, there are less repeat shoppers than there are first timers, but the average amount repeaters spend mean they are accounting for a bigger proportion of overall revenue.

In Europe, repeat shoppers account for 26% of total online revenue (up from 23% in 2011). In the UK, the figure is a little lower at 16% (but still climbing, from 15% in 2011). In the US, despite only 8% of e-commerce shoppers being returning or repeat visitors, 41% of overall revenue comes from these customers.

How online shops are preparing to entice customers back

Intershop’s data shows that European e-commerce sites are aware of the possibilities for good onsite experiences to turn first timers into repeat customers. So how are how are they intending to achieve this?

Many European e-retailers are confident that a well-delivered multichannel marketing campaign is their key objective, with 49% acknowledging that conversions and basket values will improve if they can ‘consistently market promotions across all channels. ‘

Additionally, 48% are looking to the importance of seasonality and timeliness to try and improve the performance of their sites.

Christmas 2012 may well be a big opportunity to ensure consumers are getting the best shopping experience possible in order to increase the likelihood they’ll be back in 2013.

The festive season is undoubtedly a key time of the year for e-commerce sites to entice new customers, but the value of repeat customers is proving worthy of keen focus from online sellers in the UK, across Europe and in the US. Working to ensure first-timers return in the future should be a major priority.

Recommended

Lowering the GST threshold will protect local Australian retailers, save jobs and provide the Government with $1.6 billion, according to the many media articles published this week.

The issue of GST has received an almost daily mention across the mainstream press lately, as retailers continue to campaign for a change to the current GST regulations, which currently allow online shoppers to purchase products tax-free from foreign competitors.

Site search is critical to the success of your online business. And now that more people use mobile phones and tablets to surf the web and shop, you need to be sure you’re always delivering as short a path as possible to the “add to cart” button, without distracting them by too much extra information.

When it comes to search, install and forget no longer works. Delivering a great search experience requires constant attention – but the good news is your search data is a big help in this regard.

By examining site search data you can learn about your customers’ favourite products as well as the terms they use in your search box, their responses to promotional offers, and seasonal trends.

The Econsultancy team braved the stormy weather to attend Ad:Tech in New York on November 7-8, 2012. In order to capture the great panels and conversations on offer, we created our first storify to curate three main conversations that took place on day two of the conference.

With mobile and geo-targeting at the forefront of the conversations over the two days, there was speculation of what the future of marketing will be as we move more toward tablet and smartphone use as well as multi-screen consumption. For those of you who attended, what were your key takeaways?

Companies are pouring billions of dollars a year into social media and influencer marketing campaigns, many of which target consumers on Facebook-owned Instagram, in an effort to parlay social engagement into sales.